New York, April 21 (IANS) Actor-director Robert De Niro is proud of the Tribeca Film Festival and the impact it has had on the people.

De Niro, 69, had helped set up the film festival in 2002 to celebrate New York as a centre for filmmaking

"I'm happy that the festival has gone on this long and has had an impact on people - local, national and international," contactmusic.com quoted De Niro.

"I'm very proud that it's becoming a part of the fabric of New York and tradition. Very proud," he added.

The film fest was founded in 2002 by De Niro, producer Jane Rosenthal and American real estate investor and philanthropist Craig Hatkoff post 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US.

De Niro said: "We had talked about a festival. Then when 9/11 happened and the neighbourhood was devastates, we just decided to do it. We didn't know what would happen. We put it together in, what, 120 days? That's how it was born."